Winter Reprieve

Today was a little taste of spring. Everyone was outside, with dogs and kids in tow. Even the ground squirrels emerged from their burrows to check things out. We walked around without our coats on, dodging puddles made by the rapidly melting snow. Around here, you soak up a day like today as much as you can to get you through another 3 months of possible winter.

A well-camouflaged and slightly sleepy ground squirrel.

Ice free water is a wonderful thing.

We took a friend on her first birdwatching outing and were rewarded with tundra and trumpeter swans, Barrow's and common goldeneye, cinnamon teal, pintail, and bufflehead. The ducks were too skittish to get out of the car so I couldn't sketch or take pictures, but sometimes it is nice just to bird.